J. Brown Yoga Thoughts

In the pursuit of health through yoga, the challenge is often more about shifting ingrained sensibilities than addressing physical limitations. Attempting to tune, fix, quantify, purify or explain a human body, as though it were more a piece of equipment in need of optimization or repairs than a highly temperamental organism, is not likely to heal the wounds or set a necessary course for well being.

Advertising gurus know how to use imagery to create associations and a precedent of thought that steer behavior. As yoga has grown into a common pop-culture reference, the image of someone executing balance poses has become the symbol of one's steadiness in life. But many are learning the hard way that, actually, equanimity within requires more than these sort of displays.

The internet is changing. As access becomes more and more ubiquitous, established norms are quickly becoming outmoded. The usefulness and appeal of social media need to be reexamined across all sectors of culture. And the yoga world provides an interesting example.

In the grand play of will and happenstance that comprises a life, periods of malaise are bound to take hold. These times, while disconcerting, provide a fertile proving ground for cultivating a vision of ourselves based not in fear but nurtured by our deepest sense of courage and humanity.

Recent studies are calling into question what we really know about a wide range of health conditions. Placebo is often found to be as effective as conventional treatments. And the tendency to gloss over these findings with merely a warning against "fake medicine" overlooks more important implications.

Just as good riddance was being given to 2013, Yogaglo, a prominent online yoga video service, was awarded a patent on a set of criteria for producing yoga video. In a statement released just before the holidays, Yogaglo defended its position and offered examples of alternative methods that are not in violation of the patent. A consideration of their suggestions and the precedents being set raises serious questions about the future of yoga on the internet.

As we face the unforeseeable future, practicality and fear compel us to plan. In order to meet the challenges of life, some forethought is required. And making every effort to secure our desires is a primal impulse. However, attempts at fulfillment must reckon with a universal irony that renders most plotting futile.

Arbitrary as it is, the end of a calendar year always lends itself towards reflection and re-evaluation. Marking time with numbers makes it near impossible to avoid an attempt at measuring progress as the dial ticks once more. Really though, these annual assessments are only useful if they inform how we think about the course of our lives more than what we think may have been accomplished in it.

Information technology is transforming the way human beings engage and interact with one another. Like most industries, the yoga world is keen to embrace and capitalize on the new media. But without a clear understanding of how these technologies are affecting us and a conscious relationship to their usage, we are easily betrayed by their advertised promise.

Most people who practice yoga with any consistency over time begin to recognize that the benefits extend well beyond having a strong and flexible body. But unlocking the keys to the real power of yoga often requires a fearless embrace of vulnerability that runs contrary to the image we have of yoga's fruition.